Volunteer Connections by Girl Scouts of Nassau County

Alyssa Parker, Troop Cookie Manager for Troop 2268 How do you get your troop excited for the Cookie season? Before beginning the cookie season, we prepare the girls by talking about the power of our team. We discuss all that we can do for our troop and others if we have a successful selling year. We emphasize the importance of having a partnership between the girls and their parents. Being able to gain the support of the parents is a key component. Next, we set up a whole meeting to discuss what we will do with the proceeds that we make from cookie sales. We decide on a trip or two, and then figure out how many boxes that each girl would have to sell in order to earn those trips. Finally, we will talk about ways we can use the proceeds to either host a meeting or event for a younger troop or support to a charity. How does the troop set their goals for the season? The girls have set their goals based on their interests in where they would want to travel to as a group. We look at all the...

Crystal Peterkin, Troop Cookie Manager for Troop 1395 How do you get your troop excited for the Cookie Season? I get my troop excited for Girl Scout Cookie Season by brainstorming new ways we can get out to meet the public, whether it be the locations they would like to do a booth sale at, plan mini groups of door-to-door sales, and how they can host home booth set ups at their home. How does the troop set their goals for the season? We talk as a group about realistic goals, knowing the girls outside commitments with school and family life, we talk truth and abilities.  We even talk about sharing sales towards the end depending on how close a Girl Scout is to making a reward goal. How did your troop use Cookie proceeds from last year? Our troop used cookie sales last year to stand out in unity with new troop attire (Troop hoodies and tee shirts), designed chosen by our girls, we also picked an indoor amusement park to attend (Urban Air) Our troop give back was not done this year be...

Pursuing a Gold, Silver, or Bronze award is an exciting experience in the timeline of a Girl Scout! These awards are meant to instill a strong work ethic and to inspire girls to not only help those in need, but to see beyond their communities and think about the world around them. Coming up with ideas for a project can be overwhelming so let’s talk about a few ways to get started and inspire the philanthropic spirit of your girl(s).  First, let’s quickly review the requirements for the three Highest Awards. See the chart below. When it comes to planning a Highest Award project it is best to encourage girls to think about things that are important to them. Do they love animals? Do they love gardening? Taking a topic they are passionate about and then observing how that topic is present and represented (or underrepresented for that matter) in their community is a good first step to formulating a project idea. There are endless ideas and issues Girl Scouts can address in their pursuit...